


What I Hear About You

by thunder2010



Category: X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-29 18:52:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3906928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunder2010/pseuds/thunder2010
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a rather emotional summer, Kitty is back with the rest of the X-men. Everything seems to be the same as she left it, except for Lance who wants to shake up her world. She's sure he's only befriending her because the BrotherHood is planning an attack on the X-men, but he's determined to convince her he's not. Loosely based off of the song "What I Hear About You"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you read the summary you saw that the story is based loosely on Jessie Daniel's song "What I Hear About You". At the beginning of each chapter is a lyric which pertains to the chapter. You don't have to listen to the song, but it would be a bit of a heads up as to where this story will go.
> 
> Also I claim no rights to the song or this TV show. This is purely for fun.

_I've tried to tune it out_

Kitty passed by the gym doors and frowned at the graffiti she saw especially because she knew who was responsible for it: The BrotherHood. Looks like just because it was a new year they were not planning on changing.

"Hey there, pretty Kitty." A voice purred in her ear as Pietro and the BorhterHood she had just been thinking of shouldered past her.

Kitty narrowed her eyes at then but continued on her way. This was her third year of high school and the past two had been difficult trying to get used to balancing X-men life with her normal life but now she had practically gotten a hand on it. She planned to finish high school with grades that would make her parents proud – she wanted to move on eventually from this small town. And she would not let those idiots cause any trouble for her.

She made her way to her first class of the day: AP Biology and sat down behind Rogue who was already conversing with someone. The rest of the class filed in but the seat next to Kitty was left empty. AP Biology was rarely a class that juniors took but Kitty thought it might be necessary so she convinced all of her friends to take the entrance test with her so that she would have some friends. However, only Rogue and she had passed the test, but after spending a summer away the two weren't as close as they used to be. And it seemed that Rogue had been spending the summer making friends, Kitty thought as Rogue smiled flirtatiously at the upperclassmen boy next to her.

Class started as usual, and Kitty's resolve to finish high school with flying colors began to waver. Their teacher had a boring voice and Kitty yawned, wondering if school really was the top priority. She didn't really have to go to college did she?  _Maybe Professor X could just like, help me out when I need to go look for a job._  She thought lazily.

Suddenly the door banged open and a boy with sloppy hair strolled in taking the seat beside Kitty. The teacher rolled her eyes but continued knowing the boy was a regular trouble maker. Kitty stared at the boy's ripped jeans and motorcycle gloves and knew exactly who it was. Lance – aka Avalanche in the BrotherHood.

"Just couldn't find another seat could you?" she sulked.

Lance looked at her and smirked. "You looked like you were having so much fun, I just had to join you." Kitty just shook her head and looked away, resolving next time to sit somewhere else. "So what class is this anyway?" he asked, suddenly grabbing her notebook.

"Give me that back!" Kitty hissed trying to reach around his body.

"Ap biology? What's 'ap' mean?" he asked, tossing the notebook back. Unfortunately it landed on the floor and Kitty huffed, getting up to retrieve it. "That's AP you dimwit. As in advanced placement."

Lance sighed and slumped in his chair, deciding this was going to be just another boring class. Honestly he did not even know why he still went to school.

"Are you sure you're even supposed to be in this class?" Kitty asked him.

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter because here I am and that," he said pointing to an upperclassmen whom Kitty did not know. "Is the reason why I am staying."

The bell suddenly rang and everybody rushed to file out of the room and Kitty watched as Lance pushed people around in order to reach the girl he had been pointing at earlier. When he got near he flashed the girl a smile and held the door open for her, eyeing her backside as she walked. Kitty shook her head and went to look for her other class.

"How was your first day back, guys?" Kurt asked as everyone piled in his car.

"Totally awesome!" Tamara sighed, waving to a boy.

"Boring as usual," Kitty quipped, eyeing her bag full of work.

"How come you didn't come today?" Bobby asked Kurt.

"The Professor needed me for something. You guys won't believe who I've been helping chase down today."

"What's up?" Rogue asked, jumping in the Jeep as Kurt sped out of the school.

"Sabertooth – me and Wolverine were chasing him practically all over town."

"No fair," Bobby whined. "How come you get to do all the exciting things while we were holed up all day?"

"Exciting? At least you guys didn't get your heads almost chopped off." Kurt exclaimed as they reached the institute. "Besides, I thought you guys were all looking forward to go back to school."

"I  _was_." Bobby grumbled, eyeing Tamara who was furiously texting away on her phone.

"Well you'll get your dose of exciting, don't worry. Jean has something new prepared for us in the training room."

Suddenly all of the kids began cheering in the car and piled out, heading to the training area – eager to the challenge awaiting them. Kitty however, sighed. Training was going to kick her butt because she was stressed about all the schoolwork she had to do tonight. Not to mention the bruises she would have in the morning.

* * *

The next day was boring just like the previous day until Kitty reached lunch. She had been chatting with one of her friends about summer – well mostly her friend was talking because this summer had been a lousy one – when someone threw a milk carton above her head.

"FOOD FIGHT!" Someone yelled out and suddenly several milk cartons were being thrown over her head.

Kitty ducked and tried to make a race for the cafeteria doors along with several of others when someone's pizza hit her squarely in the back. She gasped in annoyance and turned to see a smug Lance throwing several pieces of pizza at people.

_What a jerk!_

Growling, Kitty reached for her own milk carton and threw it in his direction. Unfortunately instead of hitting the unruly boy, it hit an administrator who glared at Kitty. She yelped and quickly turned around trying to make a break for it.  _So much for a good year,_ she thought running away from the administrator who was hot on her heels. Before she could get far, she was blocked by students crowding the hallways.

"Young lady!" a rather large man dripping in milk yelled at her stepping in her path.

Kitty sighed as he pointed her in the direction of the Principal's Office.  _Shit._

* * *

Lance rapped his knuckles against the desk to refrain from yawning again. He wanted to be out in the halls bothering the next poor soul that happened to turn the corner, but Principal Hyde had suggested he go to his class. When the AP Biology teacher began assigning lab partners, the door to the classroom opened and Kitty Pride walked in, smelling of pizza. Lance smirked, remembering how he had hit her perfectly in the cafeteria.

The girl had changed into a gym uniform and it seemed like she was very uncomfortable in it.

"I would appreciate if people would stop coming in so late!" the teacher huffed as Kitty took a seat at a random lab table.

Lance grinned and headed to the same table as her. "You smell like lunch," he laughed sitting beside her.

Kitty glared at him. "Yeah, like no thanks to you. And how did you manage not to get in trouble? I bet you started it."

Lance held up his hands in mock surrender. "I have no idea what you're talking about. But just as a warning I would avoid the downstairs floor next week." He said as the girl he had been sitting next to before approached the lab table.

"Can I join you guys?" she asked, eyes only on Lance.

"You can join me anytime, beautiful." Lance said.

Kitty sighed, wishing Rogue was here. Unfortunately though, her gothic friend had sprained her ankle during yesterday's training and probably was not coming back to class until the end of the week. Looks like she was stuck with an annoying member of the BrotherHood, and a popular senior who wanted to ignore Kitty's presence for the rest of the class.  _Great, just great._

"You still don't drive?" A voice from beside her teased and Kitty looked up to see Lance with his motorcycle helmet in hand. Kitty stood up straighter trying to show him she was not intimidated. "I thought you X-men knew how to do everything."

Kitty knew he had a vendetta against some of the X-men but tried not to rise to his bait. She was not in the mood for a brawl. "What are you doing out here so late? Vandalizing more property on school grounds?"

Lance laughed, wondering how she knew him so well. "Not today," he lied. "Why are you out here?"

"I got detention for a food fight that I was not even responsible for." She said, eyeing him vehemently.

"Then why'd you get in trouble?"

"For throwing milk at an administrator." She said tiredly. She didn't really want to talk to Lance because she knew that he would spend his time insulting her but she had been waiting on Jean for over an hour and she was bored. But if this was the only company she was going to get, so be it.

As she expected he laughed in her face. He had a loud laugh that made lines around his face wrinkle and made Kitty forget that whenever the X-men were faced against the BrotherHood he was always the one with the frown. She liked his laugh.

"I was aiming for you though," she said smiling at the thought of an annoyed Lance with chocolate milk dripping all over him. Abruptly her phone began to chime and she saw that she had a text from Jean: Ran into some trouble. Can you ask a friend to drop you? – J.

Kitty frowned, looking around at the parking lot and seeing no one that would probably be able to help her out.

"Something wrong?" Lance asked, eyeing the girl's worried expression.

"I'm trying to figure out which direction I should walk to get home." She said distractedly heading towards the road.

"Walk? Do you need someone to drop you off?"

"Are you volunteering?" Kitty asked, eyeing his motorcycle helmet.

He shrugged. "Are you asking?"

Kitty looked at him and then back at the long road ahead. She really did not want to walk all the way but she also didn't trust Lance. She remembered the last time she saw him he was wreaking havoc at a football game. But without the rest of the BrotherHood around he may not hurt her.

"Alright," she said finally. "The institute is kind of far."

Lance nodded, "Wait here, I'll go get my bike."

When he finally arrived, Kitty was having second thoughts about getting on the bike. "How safe is this thing?" she asked nervously.

Lance rolled his eyes and revved the engine. "If you want to walk you can."

After some final thoughts of debate Kitty finally seceded and sat down behind him. "Make sure you keep your legs close to the vehicle." He said, turning around and putting his helmet on her. Kitty frowned and wrinkled her nose at the smell. He pulled her hands so they wrapped around his middle and Kitty was surprised at the muscle she felt. "Try not to fall off. I feel like your X-men will somehow blame me for it." He said speeding off.

Kitty struggled to hold on and wondered how he was so good at keeping the bike steady at a rather high speed. "Are you sure this is safe?" she asked as he zigzagged through the lanes.

"Somewhat," he yelled back. Alarmed, Kitty held onto him tighter praying she would make it home in one piece.

When they finally arrived outside of the rather large mansion, Kitty's legs felt like jelly. The lights were off in the mansion and Kitty assumed everyone else was off helping Jean with whatever "trouble" she had run into.

"Erm thanks," she said, turning back to Lance - who was looking up at the mansion in awe. When he spotted her looking at him, his expression immediately changed into a more playful one.

"You've got a harsh grip there." He said, rubbing his sides where Kitty had been squeezing.

"Well I didn't want to fall off."

Lance laughed. "Were you that afraid? I'm surprised you didn't crap your panties."

Kitty rolled her eyes and they both stood there awkwardly.  _I wonder if I should invite him inside,_  she thought. "Uh, do you want to come in and get some water or something?"

He looked back up at the mansion and his expression became hard. "No," he said. "Wouldn't want your crazy friends to try to kill me again."

"They only went after you last time because you're always trying to pick a fight with Scott." She argued.

"Doesn't matter," he said, getting back on his motorcycle. "I'll see you around."


	2. Chapter 2

_But everybody’s talking/About you_

Kitty Pride sat under the shade of the apple tree outside of school. She had woken up earlier than everyone at the institute which meant she got to ride with Logan here. Naturally, he had been silent the whole car ride and Kitty wished he had not. She wanted something to distract her from studying for her test this afternoon.

“Head’s up!” Someone yelled and Kitty watched as seniors threw the football around.

They were all broad shouldered and full of muscles. Before she knew it, she was ogling the boys instead of studying. They threw the ball again but the guy at the receiving end did not catch it. There was a gust of wind and Kitty had an idea of where the ball was.

Once the bell rang, Kitty headed to her locker and was not surprised when she saw who was holding the football. “You shouldn’t steal,” Kitty smirked, phasing through the platinum haired boy and getting the ball.

Pietro frowned and turned around to face the-nuisance-with-an-attitude. “Who says it isn’t mine?” he picked the ball out of her hands and shoved it in his locker.

“What? You think a closed door can stop me?” Kitty laughed.

“Bothering the X-men already?” Lance said, approaching the pair. “Isn’t it a bit early in the morning for this?” For emphasis he yawned as he reached around Kitty to re-open the locker. Suddenly the girl was feeling a bit claustrophobic between the two guys. If there weren’t several people around she would have loved to phase through one of them.

“Don’t you have a cheerleader with a short skirt to be chasing?” Pietro glared at his friend.

“I need your AP Biology work,” Lance said.

Kitty crossed her arms. “Forget it,”

“I wasn’t talking to you, doll face.” Lance plucked her forehead. “I was talking to lover-boy here.”

Pietro bristled and shoved some papers at Lance. “I told you to quit calling me that.” He ground out and turned to walk away without another word to the other two.

“Lover-boy?” Kitty questioned, but Lance shook his head and began to copy the work.

“Don’t you ever do your work on time?” Kitty taunted.

Lance looked up at her. “Why don’t you be a good Kitty and go find a nice little mouse to chase?” He waved his hands as if making a shoo-ing motion.

Kitty glared at him.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later in AP Biology, Lance slumped his shoulders as Kitty arranged their materials for the class activity.

“What’s with you?” Kitty asked, realizing his sullen attitude was just going to make the activity go slower.

“Lisa’s sick.” Lance said and watched as their teacher awkwardly arranged the materials at the front of the class. “Who’s this dufus anyway?”

“Who’s Lisa?”

“Our other lab partner,” Lance said as if Kitty was dumb.

“Oh. And who’s dufus?”

Lance gave her another condescending look. “The substitute with the wedgie,”

Kitty frowned but after one look at the substitute teacher, she giggled. “Poor guy,” she said. “I would hate to be a high school teacher.”

Lance watched as the skinny X-man doodled over her notes as the teacher began to talk. He thought all of the X-men were self involved brats who thought they owned the world but he supposed there could be one exception. Even though Kitty clearly did not trust him, she put up with him and didn’t look down at him. Or maybe that was just because she was short.

“Here why don’t you try it?” Kitty suggested, handing him the magnets so that he could learn meiosis.

Lance boredly shuffled around the magnets. He breezed through the process in his head and didn’t glance much at his notebook.

“Are you sure there are five phases?” Kitty asked, nervously glancing at her notes.

Lance nodded. “Yeah, telophase is only described in a couple of sentences in the book but it is there.”

Kitty looked at him with interest. “You like, actually read the textbook?”

Lance shrugged. “I occasionally take a look at the pictures.”

Kitty gave him another look like she didn’t believe him. “Okay, can you explain the second one again? Aren’t there like specific key words Ms. Horn wants us to know?”

“Aren’t they in your notes?” Lance asked. He didn’t really want to stand here and do actual work. He wanted to grab the bathroom pass and roam the halls.

Kitty glanced at her notes sheepishly. “They aren’t really my notes.” She said and flipped through the notebook. Lance saw that it was full of material they hadn’t covered yet. “It’s Jean’s old notebook.” And Lance thought he was lazy. As if she knew what he was thinking, Kitty held her hands up feigning innocence. “I just don’t have enough time to sit around taking notes.”

“And she just let you take them? Isn’t she the one always preaching about responsibilities and stuff?”

“Well, she didn’t like, exactly give them to me… I kind of, just, helped myself to her old-”

Lance laughed at her nervousness. “Admit it, you stole her stuff.”

Kitty glared at him, hoping Rogue wasn’t anywhere in hearing range. “It’s not like she uses it anyway,” she grumbled. “And besides, I don’t ever have any time to take my own notes. We’re all busy at the institute.”

“Busy with what?” Lance asked, finally ceasing his laughter.

Kitty shrugged. “Just cleaning, and gardening, and stuff.” She trailed off vaguely.

Lance knew about what they did at the institute because he had been a part of it for one week, but hearing Kitty talk about it like it was something secretive stuck Lance as odd. He thought Kitty was a bit different from the rest – more open to him specifically, but as always he was never really a good judge of character.

“Right,” Lance agreed, slumping his shoulders again. “Stuff,” He wondered when Tyler would come back with the damned bathroom pass.

“So,” Kitty said, trying to get his attention again. Similar to Lance, she wasn’t in the mood to do actual work. “What was that you said to Pietro this morning? Lover-boy? What, does he like someone on the football team?” Kitty snickered.

Lance gave her an alarmed look. “No way!”

“Then?”

“He’d kill me if I say anything,” Lance said and then laughed. “Then again, it would be funny.”

“What would be funny?” Kitty asked, just as the teacher came to check on them.

“How come every other group has three team members?” The short substitute asked them. “And it’s only you two at this table.”

“The thing is, we aren’t actually in this class.” Lance said.

“Excuse me?” The substitute asked.

Kitty tried to say something, but Lance easily stepped in front of her. “Yeah, we just came in here to talk to some of our friends. I mean do we look like we’re doing work you old man?”

The substitute gave them both alarmed looks and Kitty hit Lance with her notebook. “Sorry, ignore him. He’s lying.”

“I’m not lying. He is old!”

“Lance, if you don’t shut up-”

By now the rest of the class was watching the small quarrel with interest. Most of them were laughing and others were whispering about the craziness of the whole situation.

“If you don’t belong in this class, you have to leave.” The substitute said.

“No,” Kitty said with a nervous laugh. “Look. I belong in this class. I answered when you called roll! Go like check the roster or something.”

Behind her, Lance tutted. “Kitty, why would I lie to the guy?”

The substitute teacher moved away and headed toward his desk. “You two can either leave quietly or I can call administrators to take you to the classes where you actually belong.”

Immediately, Lance picked up his things. “You don’t have to tell me twice old man. This class ain’t that much fun anyway.”

Kitty glared at him and threw his bag on the floor. “Stop fooling around! This lab is for a grade-”

“Yeah but it doesn’t matter for us. We aren’t in the class Kitty. Quit wasting time.” Lance picked up his bag and headed for the door.

By now Kitty was losing her patience. “Get back here you idiot!” Then, she turned back to the teacher. “Look, ignore what he said. He’s crazy. I’m serious when I say that I belong in this class.”

“Miss,” The teacher said. “I understand this is high school and to you all, everything might be a joke. But why can’t you just leave calmly like your friend?”

“Because I do belong here! You can’t kick me out for something dumb he’s doing. Come on, just look at the attendance sheet.”

After a brief hesitation, the teacher reached for his papers. “Okay, let me see your ID.” Kitty sighed in relief and went to retrieve her ID from her pocket, but felt nothing in it. She patted herself down in a panicked frenzy. “Let me guess,” The substitute said. “You don’t have your school ID?”

Kitty sighed and hoped that Lance fell down a flight of stairs. “Looks like it. Come on, please don’t be like this. My name is Kitty Pride, and I am on the attendance list. Just give me a grade on this assignment and collect my work. I swear I always have my ID.”

Despite her smile, the teacher picked up his phone. “This is ridiculous behavior.” He muttered as he dialed the number for the main office. “Your administrators will set you straight.”

“Alright! Okay, I’m leaving!” Kitty said, quickly gathering her things before the teacher did anything else. The door slammed behind her and she stood in the quiet hallway by herself. Surprisingly, Lance – who was the whole reason she was in this mess – was not in the hallway. Kitty began walking around to find the sloppy haired boy. “I am going to kill this boy when I find him,” she muttered.

As she headed toward the cafeteria, she saw from the window that he was by the parking lot of the school. _He was probably planning to leave from the beginning and got me caught up in the situation too._ Kitty fumed and rushed down the stairs to where he was. Before he could put on his motorcycle helmet, Kitty stood in front of him.

“What this?” he asked with a laugh. Kitty’s heart hammered a little faster at the sound of his laugh but she ignored it and tried to focus on her anger. “The old man didn’t find you name on the attendance list?”

“Shut up.” She hissed, stepping closer to him. “Why did you do all that? You could have just left class on your own! What was the point of getting me involved?”

Lance shrugged. “There was no point. But I was bored.”

Kitty was sure that her face was turning an angry red by now. “You are so annoying!” she wailed. “You couldn’t have waited until he had given us a grade or something? And you know I’m having a hard time trying to understand what’s going on in that class!”

“Well, that isn’t really my problem.” He said, putting his helmet on.

“Hang on!” Kitty said pushing him back. “You can’t just ruin my morning, and get me in trouble, and then leave.”

“I could, actually.” Lance said lazily.

Kitty crossed her arms. “I think I deserve something for all my troubles.”

“I don’t apologize to X-men.”

Kitty glared at him. “You are so full of yourself. I don’t know why I bother.”

Lance smiled and took the key out of his motorcycle. “I know why. You have a crush on me.”

This time, Kitty laughed. “Wow.” She said. “You really are full of yourself. I do not-”

“Sucks though. When I tell Pietro he’ll probably blame it on me.”

“Pietro? What does he have to do-”

“But I don’t see why it’s my fault.” Lance continued talking over Kitty’s question. “I can’t help that I was born with better looks than him.”

At this, Kitty’s mouth dropped open. “Wait! So are you trying to say-?”

Suddenly, Lance noticed something. “Well, it’s been nice talking to you, Kitty. But I have to go.” Without warning, he started his motorcycle and drove away, leaving behind a very confused Kitty.

 He drove around to the other side of the school where a lady was waiting for him. To everyone else, it was just another random stranger, but Lance knew it wasn’t.

“I got your missed call.” He said, taking off his helmet, but not stepping closer to the sidewalk. The stranger smiled maliciously and stepped toward him. “What do you want?”

“Dear, what I want you could not possibly retrieve.”

Lance narrowed his eyes at the woman. It seemed she would never stop speaking in riddles. “Then why did I come here, Mystique?”

“You’ve been spending time with that girl. Kitty Pride.”

 “Yeah, so what?”

 She smiled crookedly and grazed her hand along his motorcycle. “You like her, don’t you?”

“Not really.” He said. “She’s just as annoying as all of the other X-men.”

At his words, Mystique’s smile faltered. “Well, believe me when I say she enjoys your company.”

“No, that’s definitely not true.”

“Nonetheless.” Mystique continued in a harsh tone. “I noticed you have a class with her. I want you to get close to her.”

“What’s my developing a relationship got to do with you?” he questioned.

“I need something from the Institute. If she trusts you, you can get in there and get me what I desire.”

Lance raised an eyebrow. Mystique was always trying to do something to the old man Xavier. “No thanks. She’s not my type.” He said, putting on his helmet again. “I’m going back to school.”

“That wasn’t a request.” Mystique said icily.

Lance shrugged. “So, what? The BrotherHood doesn’t obey your every command. Get a life.” With that, he quickly rode away. Mystique scared him, but he had no reason to listen to her. He had his own life to sort out. And he knew the best way to live his own life was not to get caught in between Mystique and the X-men.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After school, Kurt caught up with Kitty at her locker. “Hey,” he said, surprising her. Kitty hit her head as she tried to look at him. “Woah!”

“Kurt, you scared me!” She moaned as she touched the soft spot on her head.

“Sorry about that.”

Kitty gathered her things and huffed as she found her school ID at the bottom of her bag. “Stupid thing.” She mumbled.

“What did you say?” Kurt asked.

Kitty waved it off and sighed. “So, what’s up?”

“I wanted to talk to you about something. I saw you with Lance today.” He said.

Kitty frowned at the name and scanned the parking lot for Jean’s car. “Yeah, we like have a class together.”

“No I mean I saw you skipping class _with him._ ”

Kitty gave Kurt a laugh. “I would never skip class or go anywhere with that crazy guy. What do you mean you saw me?”

“This afternoon.” Kurt insisted. “I saw you and him in the parking lot from a class window.”

“Oh that. That’s nothing.”

“Do you like him?” Kurt asked as Kitty finally spotted Jean’s car.

At his words, Kitty turned to face him with a glare. “Why does everyone keep saying that? No of course I don’t like him!”

“I mean you looked pretty close with him.” Kurt continued. “You two were laughing.”

Kitty rolled her eyes. “Yes, because he thought I liked him. Of course I laughed. How can like anyone not laugh at that outrageous idea?” But now the more she thought about it, the more she questioned her actions. She enjoyed their little banter; Lance always had something to say. And he wasn’t so hard on the eyes either.

“Okay.” Kurt said nervously. “From far away it looked like you two-”

Kitty laughed, this time more at her own thoughts. “No, don’t worry Kurt. I do not like Lance at all. The reason I was with him is a long story. Nothing like what it seemed.”


	3. Chapter 3

_And I/ I like the sound/ Of what I’ve been hearing_

“So, Kitty. Are you and that guy in your fourth hour together or something?”

Kitty laughed at her friend. “Patrice, there are like 20 guys in that class. Which one are you talking about?”

“Oh I don’t know his name. You know him though; you guys are together all the time!” Kitty rolled her eyes and turned away from her dramatic friend. “That’s him!” Patrice said suddenly, grabbing Kitty and pointing to the windows.

Outside were several boys trying to sneak off campus. Put Patrice was pointing to the one who was doing motorcycle tricks. “Lance?” Kitty groaned.

“Yeah, he’s so cute.” Patrice gushed. “Don’t you think?”

“Forget that,” another girl said. “He has a motorcycle! How cool is that!”

Kitty took another bite of her food as she thought of an answer. Lance was cute, there was no denying it, but if she said that to her friends they would think she liked him. Which she didn’t – not like they thought anyway. After weeks of picking arguments with each other, the two had finally settled on some sort of friendship.  

If she said he was ugly she would probably have to set one of her friends up with him or her friends would think she was lying and say she was just lying about her “true feelings for him”. There was no way she would win.

“She definitely thinks he’s cute!” another one of her friends laughed, elbowing Patrice. “Look at her thinking about him.”

Kitty sighed. Her week was not going the way she wanted at all, and this conversation was not what she wanted to have. “He’s not ugly, fine. But we only talk so much because we like have a class together.”

As expected, her friends were not happy with her response.

“Oh come on!”

“You two would look so cute together!”

“You talk outside of class too!”

“Wait, so does that mean you two aren’t together?” Patrice asked again.

“No we are not together. I don’t think I could ever like him though, he’s like so annoying!” Kitty took another bite of her food and cringed while the other girls berated her.

“Kitty you say that about everyone! You’ll never get a boyfriend at this rate.”

“But he’s so cool, how can he be annoying?”

“Does he have a girlfriend?”

Kitty shrugged, and gathered her things as the bell rang. “I’m telling you guys, we only talk because we have a class together. I never asked about a girlfriend.”

While the other girls crooned about this new development, Kitty gathered her things and left the cafeteria. Her friends were great, but there were other things that Kitty cared about beside small gossip. Somewhere on the other side of the city, a boy was going through mutations and was blaming it on Kitty. He had tried to go public with this information to the media and that’s what most of the X-men were busy with today.

Even though Kitty knew it had nothing to do with her, she couldn’t help thinking that it was all her fault.

“You know, you should really learn to drive.” Lance said casually, appearing at Kitty’s locker at the end of the day. She rolled her eyes and checked her reflection in the mirror. He watched as she checked her teeth for anything and then snapped her little compact shut. He wondered how often she was caught with something in her teeth.

“Oh do I now? And what brought on this burst of encouragement?”

“All your X-pals just left the school. Looks like you’re going to have to find another way to get home.”

Kitty raised her eyebrow at the shaggy haired boy next to her. It was always a mystery how he managed to be there every time she was lonely. “Are you stalking us now?”

“When school bores you to death and all you do is roam the halls, you begin to notice things.”

Kitty laughed and shut her locker. “How did you even make it to senior year?”

From the corner of his eye, Lance saw Pietro eyeing him. Smirking, Lance followed Kitty as she made her way down the hall. Pietro clearly liked Kitty, but he needed a push to actually acknowledge it. Hopefully jealousy would do the trick. “So, why is it that they all left without you? Did they forget you?”

“No.” Kitty sighed. “It’s complicated,” she said after a moment.

Lance hated to admit it, but Kitty wasn’t a stranger to him anymore. They talked occasionally - even though most conversations led to an argument. But because of that, it made Lance know a lot about her. And it included noticing the way her body stiffened when she was trying to keep something to herself; which always led to his curiosity taking hold of him.

“I’m not going anywhere.” He said. “I’ve got time.”

Kitty looked up at him and Lance noticed the way her body seemed to relax. “They told me why they were going. But I wasn’t allowed to come because it – the person they’re looking for was someone that I used to know.”

“And I’m assuming they’re looking for this person because he’s a new mutant?” Lance asked.

“I am not agreeing, but I am not going to say you’re wrong.” Kitty said. She knew that she shouldn’t be telling Lance anything at all, but she was sure that if she didn’t give out a name or location, it would be okay.

“So? Why weren’t you allowed to go?” Kitty shrugged and began to walk faster, but Lance knew better. He stepped in front of her and blocked her path. “Is it like a family member or something?”

“Can we just not talk about it?” Kitty asked, beginning to get agitated.

Lance was almost half a foot taller than Kitty and he loomed over her, entering her personal space. Kitty usually hated when people did that. But the worst thing was that when it was Lance looming over her, she enjoyed it. She enjoyed the smell of his cologne and the way her heart beat faster when their bodies accidentally collided.

But she didn’t like Lance. Or she didn’t want to anyway. He was always picking an argument with her or getting her into trouble. And he was part of the BrotherHood, who sided with Mystique. Kitty and her friends were injured several times because of Lance. He was just an all around trouble maker who skipped classes whenever he wanted. So why didn’t she move away?

“You clearly want to talk about it.” He said breaking her out of her thoughts.

“What makes you think that?” Kitty asked, looking up at him now.

Lance opened his mouth to say something, but realized he didn’t actually know what why he was asking about her private life. There was just something he saw in her body language. But he couldn’t tell her that; he’d sound like an idiot. And why did he care? Kitty wasn’t anything special.

He shrugged and moved away from Kitty. “No reason,” he said lamely, hating that this one normal girl was making him question his own actions.  

Even though he was right about her wanting to talk to someone, Kitty nodded and continued on her way to tutoring. There was no reason Lance needed to know what she did with her life. It was better if they kept their conversations to small bickering.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lance arrived at the small building where he helped out after school. It was a recreation center for youth in the community. He made his way to the front office and punched in his volunteer ID to clock in. He didn’t notice anything was wrong until he saw the police in the gymnasium.

Usually, he went to the gym first to check on a boy that he had grown friendly with. When he saw that Andrew was not there, he began to get worried.

“Hey,” a police officer said, stopping Lance before he could go past the yellow tape. “Let me see your ID sir, this is a crime scene.”

“Crime scene?” Lance asked.

“I’m sorry sir, but we are not disclosing any information to anyone that isn’t a full time staff here.” And with that the officer blocked Lance’s path.

Lance turned away from the officer to find someone else that would give him more information. He saw a young teenage girl that was watching him from outside. And then he noticed something strange, the girl’s eyes seemed to change color. She smiled coldly at him and began to walk away.

Trusting his gut, Lance immediately followed her. He wanted to say he cornered her into the west entrance of the building but he had a feeling that she led him there on purpose.

“Mystique.” He said, facing her. “What did you do?”

The girl laughed and morphed into a tall lady with blue skin and red hair. She was looking at Lance amusedly. “What makes you think I had something to do with it?”

“Shut up.” Lance could feel the ground beneath him trembling and knew that he would lose his patience quickly. No one knew about his part-time position here and seeing Mystique here made him feel horribly violated.

“Careful with that temper of yours,” Mystique cooed. “Wouldn’t want to bring this building down, would you? Not with all those young kids running around.”

Her tone made Lance take a step back, but he wasn’t ready to go until he had some answers. “Where’s Andrew?”

“Oh, you mean that kid with the ginger hair? He’s fine; but he’s just gone missing.” She tutted as if it was sad news to her. “It’s a shame, the police have no idea what happened. Who knows what happened?”

At her words Lance’s blood began to boil and ground began to shake.

“I wouldn’t do anything too rash,” Mystique murmured. “After all, I am the only person who knows where little Andrew is.” Lance could perfectly image choking Mystique and getting answers out of her, but he knew that would never happen. Taking a deep breath, he managed to make the ground stop shaking. “Now that’s better,” Mystique took a step toward Lance and smiled.

“What do you want?” Lance asked. “Why are you hurting the kid?”

“Andrew will be back by nightfall.” Mystique said, watching Lance’s reaction carefully. “That is, if you agree to do what I tell you.”

Lance knew this would be a mistake. Not only was Mystique hell bent on destroying the X-men, but she never kept her word. Who knew if she could be trusted? But she was right; she was the only person who knew where Andrew was.

“What do you want?”

“I only want you do agree to complete the task I asked of last month.”

“What? Does this have to do with that X-men girl?”

“Shadow cat,” Mystique said with a nod. “I’m sure it can’t be that hard for you to woo her. I already noticed she’s taken a liking to you.”

“And if I agree to pretending to like her in order to get into the Xavier Institute you’ll let Andrew go? It might take another month for her to trust me enough to bring me there.”

“I will release Andrew tonight.” Mystique said as if she were talking about a toy instead of a child. “But, if I find out that you are not doing as you are told, Andrew or some other children might go missing again. And next time, I cannot assure you they will return.”

Even though he would much rather crush her between the plates of the Earth, Lance immediately nodded his head. “Yeah, fine. I agree. I’ll get you into that stupid institute.”

Mystique nodded. “I knew you’d agree to my simple request."

**Author's Note:**

> Hello wonderful readers! This is my first X-men evolution fic and I've loved these two characters from the very beginning. However, as I read some stories with this ship I found they weren't really my taste. So I wanted to add my idea to the mix. I plan for this story to be lighthearted, humorous, and a nice adventurous relationship between these two, so if you're looking for that this should be a fun journey :)
> 
> This story takes place as if Kitty and Lance had never become close but they do know each other and have fought against each other. Also the world knows about mutants but they don't really know about the mutants in the school. If you have any question about the setting feel free to ask :) I plan to update as early as one week so REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW and tell me what you think.


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